Londoner's heavyweight bout with Tyson Fury unlikely to take place after
former world champion is told to retire by doctors

David Haye on Sunday night withdrew from his much-anticipated all-British clash with Tyson Fury and may face permanent retirement after doctors advised him to hang up his gloves after surgery on his shoulder three days ago.

The former world heavyweight and world cruiserweight champion underwent five hours of surgery in Germany on Thursday morning to reconstruct his right shoulder, and has since been told to seriously consider ending his decorated 11-year professional boxing career.

The operation was to the right subscapularis and bicep tendon attachments, both of which were ruptured.

“I genuinely believed the shoulder injury wasn't that bad,” said Haye. “But the doctor sent me for a detailed MRI scan and within 24 hours I was told the full extent of the damage. Twenty-four hours after that I was in the operating theatre.

“It's a crushing blow for me. I had big plans for next year and the ultimate goal was to win back the world heavyweight title, something my amazing fans deserve.”

“What I didn't anticipate was that this year would be the unluckiest of my career and that a number of injuries would disrupt my plans so much. Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.”

“The boxing gods keep hinting that maybe enough is enough and that it's time to finally hang up my gloves.”

This latest injury has meant the cancellation his proposed Feb 8 bout in Manchester with Fury on the advice of his doctors.

“The surgery and subsequent results are a bitter pill to swallow because I truly felt I had a lot more to offer and was looking forward to paying back my loyal fans with some great fights in 2014,” said Haye. “But I've been boxing for 23 years now, amateur and pro, and this has clearly taken its toll on my body.”

“I can only offer my sincerest apologies to all those fans who have followed me over the years and, like me, wanted to finish on a real high. This wasn't how I wanted to end 2013.”

“If I'm now destined to have won the European Championship, the Unified World Cruiserweight Championship and the WBA heavyweight championship of the world - with a record of 28 fights, 26 wins, 24 victories coming via knockout and only two defeats - then so be it. I'm proud of these achievements and consider my boxing career a huge success.”